


The Buskers

by Avocado



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Busking, Driving, F/M, Fluff, Love, Modern Day, and those tapes are prince and bowie, honestly mostly fluff, mentions of sex and contraception, you and maui listen to cassette tapes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9426767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avocado/pseuds/Avocado
Summary: A girl walks home from work and spies a couple of buskers.One shot sequel to Where You Are. Set in present day, so you and Maui have been together for a few thousand years.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DriftingDrifloon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DriftingDrifloon/gifts).



> Hey guys, this is a bit of a strange one, but i missed writing Maui and reader stuff. I just wanted to do a little update of how their life might be in modern day. Essentially the two of you are both buskers and like to not so subtly talk about how immortal you are and then get surprised when people pick up on it...
> 
> Anyway. Whilst this is still written as "you" do this it is from the viewpoint of an outsider. 
> 
> This is for DriftingDrifloon who has been my rock all the way through Where You Are. I hope you enjoy!

She was going to be late, she knew it. The girl rushed through the busy street, pushing past tourists who she had no time for. It was all very well and good that they were enjoying her culture, but she had places to be and they were very much in the way.

There was a particularly dense crowd of people with cameras out which was difficult to get by. As she tried to force her way forward she ended up being jostled to the front, hair messed up and cardigan askew from the journey.

The tourists, it seemed, were gathering round to watch some buskers. They were certainly… an interesting looking pair. The man was huge, he definitely worked out a lot – his long hair was up in a bun and he had a drum kept tight between his thick thighs which he kept an intricate beat on. He was watching a woman, you. You were wearing a long, floral dress, your hair sweeping around you, part of your performance. You danced to the music, feet and arms moving expertly but effortlessly. It was a dance you had done a thousand times and would do a thousand times over.

Both you and him were covered in tattoos all the way up to your necks. They were stunning, you were human works of art.

The girl snapped out of her daze, realised the time, and pushed off to work. But before she did she dropped ten dollars into the little hat which was out for donations.

*  
She had agreed to work over her lunch break and had sucked up to her boss enough not to get fired. Now it was the end of the day and she started the long slog home. It was alright, the crowds were thinning a little, and the heat wasn't as unbearable as before. On her way home, she noticed the buskers were still there.

You were gathering up the money you had collected as the man gathered your things.

“Well, we’ve got enough for dinner and some gas,” you concluded. “I told you, in a place with this many indie coffee shops the ukuleles are going to be more popular.”

“Alright, alright. Sorry that I like watching you dance,” grumbled the man. You threw him a smile before noticing you were being watched.

“Oh hey, I remember you! You tipped us this morning,” you said, enthusiastically. The girl flushed a bit, unsure how to deal with such good looking people talking to her.

“Um, yeah. The two of you are, uh, really good,” she stuttered. By this point the man had walked into ear shot, and you and him exchanged a look and laughed.

“Thank you. We’ve been practising for a long, long time,” you chuckled. You shook her hand and introduced yourself, and then the man, calling him ‘my husband Maui’.

“Husband?” The girl asked. You both looked very young to be married.

“Yeah, we’ve been together for a while now,” said Maui, putting a hand on your hip and pulling you close. You rolled your eyes but you could tell the girl didn't really mind.

“You wanna come have dinner with us?” you asked, slipping on a pair of shades. The girl looked nervously to Maui who nodded reassuringly.

“C’mon, we enjoy the company,” said Maui, and that was how the girl found herself in the company of the buskers sitting outside one of the little cafes, waiting on a burger and a glass of ice tea. You and Maui held hands lazily across the table, as if always touching one another was as natural as breathing to the two of you. The girl fidgeted, unsure what to do. Social interaction had never been her strong suit.

“So, tell us, what do you do?” you asked. You were constantly smiling. It was a little distracting.

“I uh, work in a book store,” said the girl.

“That’s great! There aren't enough bookstores around any more. Forget Kindles, There’s nothing that compares to the feel of a paperback in your hands, don’t you agree?” you mused.

“’Forget Kindles’?” quoted Maui in a high-pitched voice which was clearly meant to be an imitation of you. “You’ve changed your tune. Last month you were begging me for one.”

You rolled your eyes and elbowed him.

“A girl can change her mind. Besides we agreed it was a Kindle or dinner,” you sighed. The girl looked up as the food was brought over, and, not realising how hungry she was, began to chow down on her fries with gusto. Realising how it could be seen as rude, she wiped her mouth and smiled at the two of you.

“So you two are… buskers?” she asked. You put down your burger, nodded and went to wipe your hands on your dress before thinking better of it and wiping them on Maui instead. He was so engulfed in his food he didn’t seem to notice.

“Yeah, that's what we do. I know it seems sort of like freeloading but I mean, this is our nine to five, you know? We tried to settle down a couple of times but it didn't work. We like to travel.”

“Yeah, we used to sail. A lot,” Maui said, in between mouthfuls of onion rings. Then he reached over and took a handful of your fries and ate them all at once. When you went to complain he added, “that was for using me as a napkin again.”

“Eh. That's fair. Yeah, we sailed. But then we traded in the boat a while ago,” you explained. The girl nodded. Her eyes flitted between the two of you. She had never seen two people so… at ease with each other. She didn’t believe in soul mates, per se, but…

When she watched the way the two of you teased and smiled, bantered and laughed, well… she wondered if the exception could be made.

“So you guys… what, just travel?” she asked. Maui nodded.

“Yep. We wander, we busk. We grow an adoring fan base and then leave in the early morning, with them always pining for more,” Maui mused, “we don't stay in one place too long. Not our style. Never has been.”

“Why?” she couldn’t help but feel herself being drawn into this story of two strangers. Was it just her, or did the two of you seem to share a little sad smile?

“Our friends… outgrow us, I suppose,” you seemed to pick your words carefully. “So we don’t like to linger in places long enough to form too many friendships.”

This was confusing. The girl furrowed her brow. Just how old were the two of you? Neither of you looked like you were much older than late twenties, early thirties at a push. As she pondered and listened to the two of you chat, suddenly the girl realised you had all finished eating, and the two of you were shelling out the money for the food. She reached for her purse but Maui waved her hand away, as if to say this was on the two of you.

“Anyway,” you said, standing up and wiping your hands on an actual napkin, “we're probably gonna skedaddle now. The open road awaits. Can we give you a ride anywhere?”

You didn’t seem the sort to try and kidnap her, and her phone had good signal if she needed to call anyone, so she figured she’d chance it. She was interested, and wanted to know more about the two of you. So she asked for a lift home which you were happy to accommodate.

Hand in hand, you and Maui led her to where you were parked in one of the back streets of the town. As soon as she saw it, she knew it was yours.

“So you must drive the VW Camper bus, right?” she asked. It was a run down old thing. No wonder you felt safe leaving it wherever, it looked like it would take too much effort to steal it without havimg anything fall off.

"Yep, that’s us,” Maui slapped a hand on the side of the bus with so much force the girl was surprised it didn’t fall into a pile of rust. “Our ol’ reliable.”

It was quite well decorated, she had to concede. The paint was getting peeled off but once she could imagine the mural painted on the side must have been quite wonderful. It showed a beautiful lady, green-skinned with flowers in her hair, open armed and smiling.

“You admiring Te Fiti?” you asked, a smile in your voice. She nodded.

“Maui painted that back in the eighties. He’s so talented,” you sighed, wistfully.

Wait, the eighties? she went to say, but was interrupted.

"You know you can stop talking as if you have a crush on me. We’re married,” called Maui from where he was loading up the instruments into the trunk of the van. You giggled and twirled the ring on your finger. Then, holding the back door open for the girl, “you're welcome to sit in the van, it’s gonna be more comfortable.”

She followed the advice and clambered into the van. To be honest she wasn't quite sure what she expected. It was a tiny home. She could see where a bed could fold down from, and all the shelving units which had been built in to try and keep all of your possessions reasonably tidy to maximise space. On the side of the van was hung some sort of giant decorative fish hook, which she couldn’t imagine a possible use for.

Towards where the front seats were was a small sofa which she sat down on, looking awkwardly at where a half-empty box of condoms lay discarded. You chuckled awkwardly and snatched them away.

“Ha! Sorry about that! Although, they have been a godsend for us,” the last part was directed at Maui, and he nodded thoroughly, some part of a secret joke, she guessed. She watched the two of you in the front quietly as Maui began to drive and you fiddled with the tape deck.

“Don't you have CDs? Or an iPod?” she asked, surprised, covering her mouth when she realised how offensive she might have sounded. Neither of you seemed to mind.

"No, all of our stuff in on cassette. Prince and the Revolution or Bowie?” that last bit was once again to Maui, as you offered up a couple of tapes for inspection.

“Prince,” Maui decided, nodding, and you put the tape in to play. The girl sat back as a song she vaguely recognised began to play, something that she had heard her parents put on before. She decided not to say anything about that. Instead she studied the inside of the van a bit more. The longer she looked around the more she found something to notice. There were of course mundane items, a lot of brightly coloured patterned shirts abandoned everywhere, but a couple of things really caught her attention.

One was incredibly sweet, if not a little mundane compared to every other wonder here. She only noticed when she sat on it. The girl took out from under the sofa cushion a package which appeared to be from Amazon. Neither of you were looking and curiosity got the better of her, so she had a peek inside. There was a brand new Kindle, and a little handwritten note which said:

_Happy anniversary. I love you. Now stop asking me for one.  
M x_

She smiled and put it away quickly, making sure that you hadn’t seen what was clearly a surprise present.

Her eyes were then drawn to something else interesting. It was what appeared to be an actual oil painted portrait. It was incredibly well done. It was the two of you, in incredibly dated attire. Maui was in a high-collared shirt and jacket, and you were wearing a corseted long-sleeved dress, and you were standing either side of a man she vaguely recognised. She couldn’t place him for a moment, until she got out her wallet and checked.

“Is that… Alexander Hamilton?” she asked, incredulous. You stopped singing along to Prince in order to have a look.

“Oh right, yeah. It is.”

“Why…?” she asked, honestly dismayed. She couldn’t imagine you commissioning an artist to do this. And if you did, why? Why Alexander Hamilton?

“Oh, we knew him when he was in the Caribbean. It was a total accident that we ever saw him again. He insisted we got it painted. He was a good enough kid,” you mused, before suddenly realising what you were saying and going quiet. She saw the two of you exchange a look.

She looked from one of you to the other, confused.

“Wait… how long have you two been married?” she asked, quietly. You shuffled awkwardly in your seat. Maui fielded the question.

“Oh, long enough. It’s along here, isn't it?”

She looked out the window to see yeah, you were on her street. Maui stopped the van. The girl went to get out, but she couldn't help but ask one last question.

“Who _are_ you guys?”

“Us? We’re just a couple of buskers,” Maui responded. “Take care of yourself…”

He realised he hadn’t asked her name.

“Hi’ilei,” she finished. You froze visibly. Maui put a gentle hand on your leg. You noticed how she had paused from getting out of the van.

“Sorry, I used to have a… actually, never mind,” you muttered. You managed a smile and a wave goodbye.

“See you later. Thanks for the ride,” she said, and hopped out the van, closing the door behind her.

She watched the van drive off, until it was far off out of her sight, and she couldn’t even hear it any more. She began to wonder but then shook the thoughts from her head. There were strange people in the world, and at least she had gotten a lift home from it.

She went inside and closed the door gently behind her.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wish i was sorry about the randomness of the hamilton stuff... but I'm not 
> 
> xoxo


End file.
